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1901 points l2silver | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.464s | source

Maybe you've created your own AR program for wearables that shows the definition of a word when you highlight it IRL, or you've built a personal calendar app for your family to display on a monitor in the kitchen. Whatever it is, I'd love to hear it.
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patcon ◴[] No.35739099[source]
I co-organized a weekly hacknight meetup of 40-70 people.

I wrote a script to make Anki spaced repetition flash card decks with avatars and names pulled from the meetup API. I would use GitHub Actions to run the script a few hours before the event, then drop the importable deck into a Google Drive folder. I'd review the deck before the meetup, and then at the event, I'd not stress about names. I'd pretend to introduce myself to new people like I didn't already know their names, but I'd be able to make them feel very welcome when I remembered, or introduced them to others.

Why do this arguably creepy thing? Because I am really forgetful with names, and when I forget, I become reluctant to approach people, which comes across as less friendly than I prefer to be. But I believe using people's names is REALLY important to community organizing. When I know names, I am really great at using them a lot, helping others learn them, generously making introductions, and helping people to feel a sense of belonging.

It was the best community organizer hack I ever came up with, until meetup locked down their API and broke it...!

https://github.com/CivicTechTO/anki-meetup-memorizer

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1. Lio ◴[] No.35739424[source]
That sounds like it would have indeed been a nice way to run a group. I like that you pretended not to know their names when first introduced.

I remember going to an arduino hack group once. When I went to introduce myself to the organiser he cut me off mid-sentence with a flat "I know who you are Lio" and a unblinking stare.

Now, in tech circle we often have people that are a bit "rough" when it comes to human interaction so I make allowances.

I think what he meant was I recognise you from Twitter or something. As far as I know we get along fine and I've had absolutely no issues with him before or after.

All the same, it freaked me the fuck out at the time. :D

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2. mkeeter ◴[] No.35740468[source]
The college president at my alma mater memorized the names and faces of every incoming freshman in my class (~200 people).

Unfortunately, I didn't know who she was, so my first encounter was having a seemingly random stranger stop me on the sidewalk and ominously declare:

"You didn't have a beard in your picture, Matthew."